The World of Remnant
by Jumper200
Summary: Burned down villages, body's scattered across the ground and missing children. As more villages go down more question rise only to find nothing, will more suffer the same fate or will our young hero's stop them. (This is my first story so please leave any and all comments so I can improve. Summary will change in the future. Updates will be every other week on Thursday.)
1. 1 The Beginning

_Zazel village outside of vale_

A cool gust of wind blew throughout the land as the evening sun shined down warming the village below. As the week was nothing but good weather, it allowed the kids to embrace their youth by running around outside and play. While most adults worked hard in there market stalls or tending to the crops, making home appliances, working on weapons, and other such labors. Today however, they worked most of the afternoon away to repair some of the broken buildings and fences due to the grimm that had attacked only a few hours ago. Thankfully no one had been killed during the attack thanks to the huntress that had passed by. Along the road to the village entrance a small group of kids lined up by a white cloaked figure.

"Are you ready!" she shouted. The assembled crowd watching on the sidelines immediately shouted with excitement as the runners took their starting positions. Standing behind the line, the kids where eagerly preparing to make a dash to the other side. There a sign stood tall with Zazel village on it towards the entrance. "GO!" the kids bolted from the line as fast as they could, leaving a cloud of dust trailing behind them. The children watching cheered them on as they crossed the finish line.

As they all surrounded the winner, the figure stood there watching the kids. She soon heard someone walk up behind her. "Thank you for saving our village this morning Miss Rose." Summer turned around facing the woman that was walking up to the cloaked figure. With a kind smile on her face she stood about average height with black wolf ears that peaked through her short curly hair. Her yellow dress flowed down to her knees ever so slightly moving with the flow of the wind. Summer pulled down her hood to reveal her pale skin, silver eyes and dark red hair. "Anytime, I'm just glad I passed by when I did and please, call me Summer, and you are?" she replied while fixing her hair as she looked at the faunus.

"Lunae'a, I'm Nero's mother." She said as she looked to the young faunus with the black ears running around and playing with the other children. "So Summer how long are you planning on staying in our village?" Summer looked over to her empathetically and said "Sorry I wish I could stay but my children are waiting for me to return since I've been gone on my mission for so long. I intend to get travel to Ironport to catch the next ship to Patch." Lunae'a looked at Summer with a bit of surprise "You have kids? What are their names?" she said with a smile on her face.

"Well, one of them is my step-daughter and the eldest. Her name is Yang, she's like a little firecracker or as my husband would say 'my sunny little dragon." she said with a little chuckle "And then there is Ruby. She's my youngest and sadly she takes after me more then I would like." she said as she looked down with a nervous smile. Lunae'a respectfully replied "Well what's wrong with that? You helped this village out when you could have just walked on by." Sighing, Summer shook her head as she explained "Yeah but . . . I don't know, I just worry about her, I want her to live a normal, safe life that has nothing to do with hunting the grimm or putting Yang or herself in harm's way like that."

Lunae'a looked over at the children playing and smiled softly "Yeah, I can relate, I would be worried to if my son decided to go out into the world. I guess that's what life is about, seeing new things weather it's good or bad. All we can do is guide them down the road we think is best for them." Lunae'a said with a soft smile on her face. Summer nodded as she added "Yeah being a mother is hard but it has it's perks, each day is always new especially with my two running around for me." they both stood there watching as the kids ran around enjoying the day as much as they could. "Anyway I need to start on dinner and you should hurry back to your kids. I'm sure they will be excited to see you" Lunae'a said with a smile.

Summer then realized that the sun was getting lower in the sky, it was getting late. "Yeah I don't think they would like it if I don't show up. Plus I promised to bake cookies with them when I got back." Summer said with a chuckle "It was nice talking to you Summer, please stay safe on your travels and hopefully you can return with your family for some time to visit." Summer smiled and nodded her head "Yeah that would be nice, until next time then." Summer then walked over to pick up her pack and say goodbye to the children as they all surrounded her. "Nero when you are done, come home and get washed up I'm starting dinner soon" Lunae'a said as she began walking home.

Nero's ears picked up on his mother's voice as she spoke to him and smiled and said "Ok mom." Nero then turned to Summer with a sad smile for his new friend that was leaving soon and said " Bye miss Summer, will you be able to visit and come play with us again soon?" Summer kneeled in front of him and pats his head "Sure, when I get some time I'll visit and bring my kids so they can play with you to." Nero's eyes lit up and sparkled at the thought of new people to meet, he then turned and ran home happily. With that, Summer stood up and said goodbye to the children and then started walking down the dirt road and left for Ironport to return home.

As Nero ran into his home and took off his shoes, he ran up to his mother. Lunae'a was standing in the kitchen looking in the cabinet puzzled contemplating what to cook for the night "Mom, what are we having for dinner?" he questioned, still energetic from playing with the others. Lunae'a looked down and smiled "It's a surprise my little pup." Nero puffed his cheeks out and looked away with a small blush on his face "Mom, I said don't call me that!" Lunae'a laughed "Ok, ok so who won the last race today?" Nero looked down as his ears folded on his head "Crymzen did today." hearing the sadness in Nero's voice Lunae'a stopped working on dinner.

"Don't be upset dear I'm sure you will get faster and beat them all one day." She exclaimed with a happy tone. Nero looked up with some tears in his eyes "How do you know?" As she began to wipe the tears out of his eyes she explained "No matter what happens, never stop running even if the other kids are faster. Anything you set your mind on, embrace it. Even if it knocks you down then get back up and try again. Never give up or stop moving, for you can accomplish anything you set for yourself. Now stop crying you have to be strong and brave even in hard times like this ok." she said as she patted his head. Nero then smiled and wiped his face off and looked at his mom smiling again "Ok. I will and next time I'll get faster!" Lunae'a stood up and began to work on the food again "Ok now go clean up and get ready to eat, tomorrow we need to go into the market and see if we can buy some supplies." Nero took off for the stairs as he said "Ok, I'll be extra fast!" Lunae'a laughed at Nero's excitement.


	2. 2 Nightmares

Nero woke up startled to the sound of screaming from the nearby houses. As he was coming to his senses he could hear the sounds of gunfire, swords clashing, and shouting coming from outside. As terrified as he was he managed to climb out of bed and approach his window fearing the possibility of grimm attacking the village again. As he got closer he could see the glare of flames reflecting off the window of the nearby houses on fire. Finally arriving to the window he could see people lying in the streets not moving, and strange people dressed in black going from house to house grabbing his friends and shooting their parents in front of them.

Standing there in shook, Nero could only watch until he was startled by the sound of the door from down stairs slam open and sounding almost like a wild stampede. There were people rushing in to the house. Soon after he heard his mother shouting "Get the hell out of my house!" as he could hear the sound of glass breaking and other objects being thrown around. The sound of a gunshot rang throughout the house and then after a short second he heard something hard hit the ground with a sickening thud. "Search the rest of the house and grab any kids we are leaving after the next few houses. We don't have long before unwanted guest or the grimm get here!"

As Nero listened, he heard the men moving around down stairs he heard someone coming up the stairs. Knowing they would check his room he did his best to hide in the darkest part of the corner waiting for the door to open up so he could run out when the stranger walked in. As he was waiting he kept panicking, doubting his own speed, thinking he was not fast enough during the race. Cause of this the fear almost overtook him, knowing that he may not get away was overwhelming in his mind. Then as if time had stood still, he remembered what his mother had told him a few hours ago. "No matter what happens, never stop running even if the other kids are faster. Anything you set your mind on, embrace it. Even if it knocks you down then get back up and try again. Never give up or stop moving, for you can accomplish anything you set for yourself. Now stop crying you have to be strong and brave even in hard times like this ok." with that thought in his head he felt the fear ease from his mind regaining his focus, he was ready.

As the door swung open, the man took a few steps in to the room. His eyes squinted as he glaring over to the bed, only to find it empty. As he was about to say something he heard footsteps behind him running out of the room "The kid is running! Grab him!" Nero bolted from the room and rushed for the stairs devoted to get outside. Quickly descending to the bottom of the stairs he caught a glimpse of something fast and dark coming his way. The sheer speed of the object left him no time to dodge away as he felt the object hit his head knocking him to the ground. As he laid there keeping his eyes shut tight. His head pulsing from the pain, tears begin to fill his eyes.

He opened his eyes and tried to look around only to see a man in front of him looking down at him. "Now where do you think you're going." he said with a grim smile and false curiosity. Then he raised his boot and kick Nero's head, forcing his head to the side and making his body go limp. "Really Noct? Couldn't stop one kid?" the man questioned as he looked up to his friend "Hey! That little shit was hiding. Not my fault he wasn't in bed! Anyway, Giel grab him and throw him in the truck. I'll see if there are more kids here and then we can leave." Noct then proceeded to look around as Giel picked up Nero and said "Yeah whatever. Meet you outside, or are you going to lose another child?" he said laughing as Noct flipped him off.

After they finished bickering, they went back to work as Nero felt his mind fading in and out of consciousness. Numbness started to creep its way in his body as he tried to stay awake. Soon his limp body was being lifted up and carried outside. He could see the houses on fire and several black and white vans' that sat there out of place. Before he faded, he was tossed into the van where several other kids sat huddled up next to each other crying. Soon after, darkness took over and he was out.

Nero started to wake up from hearing a voice "Hey are you ok, wake up." as Nero started to gain consciousness, he looked up to see a figure who was gently shaking him awake. "Mom?" he groaned as his head was still throbbing. "No sorry but you are not at home anymore." The voice said with sadness "My name is Izabell." Nero started to focus on the girl. She had short pixie blond hair, lightly tanned and emerald eyes. She appeared to be human.

As Nero sat up off the floor, he looked around to examine his surroundings and listened to the other kids who were silently crying. There were bare gray cells that held ten kids each, including his own. They ran along a wall with a long hallway. To the one side, was a dead end and on the other was a door with no window. Outside of their cage he saw a cell that held a lone young boy on his side sitting in a far corner by himself with what looked like dirty blond hair that covered his face.

As Nero sat there he started to question several things. _"Who are these people? What do they want with us? Who is that boy by himself?"_ With a confused outburst, Nero states. "Where is my mother?" as he looked towards Izabell, who didn't even look at him when she responded "If she was in the house with you then she's gone." She paused only for a minute before finally looking him in the eye's as she said in an apologetic tone "I'm sorry." Nero knew what she meant and felt tears beginning to form as he told himself not to cry. At that moment the door on the far end opened up blinding them with a bright light from the other side of the door.

As Nero covered his eyes he could hear what sounds like a several pair's of boots and one distinct sound of heels clicking, as they walked into the hallway and stopped in front of his door. As his eyes began to adjust to the light he looked up to see four armed men with rifles. They were standing behind a woman who stood tall with brown hair in a small ponytail. She was wearing black slacks with a white button up blouse and a long white coat. Wearing glasses and adorned with a nasty scar that ran down her right eye. In one hand she held a clipboard and in the other a lit cigarette.

As she took a hit from her cigarette, she then said "Hello, my name is Hazel and I'm here on a really important job and you have been selected to help me. Congrats children, starting today you will be helping me with my special science experiment that uses dust." She said with a happy tone. After looking at the kids she nodded to herself "Grab the wolf faunus, the blond girl and the tall boy in the back." Three of the guards who stood behind her moved forward to grab the three she called for. At that moment, Nero knew that whatever this woman wanted was not good and he felt all his emotions running laps throughout his head. As the guard got closer he could feel only one emotion, anger.

As the guard reached down to grab Nero by the arm, he leapt up and bit down on the guards forearm and held on. He felt a trickle of blood seeping out as the guard starting screaming from the pain. He was hit with the butt stock of one of the rifles. With a loud echoing thump, he was knocked down onto his back. Dazed from the pain, he could barely move even while the guard who he bit put one of his boots on his chest and pointed his rifle at Nero. "I'm going to kill you, you fucking animal!" The guard shouted as the other's stood there watching eager to see if he would pull the trigger. As Nero looked up the only thing he could see was the barrel staring him down. He could not pull himself away instead; he stared down the barrel with a look that held no fear.

"Enough!" yelled Hazel. "If you kill the lab rats you can explain to the Chairman why you thought it was a good idea to waste our resources!" as the guard pressed his boot harder into Nero's chest he replied annoyed. "Yes ma'am." he then looked down at Nero and said "Have fun you piece of shit." The guard then removed his boot from Nero's chest and kicked him hard in the gut. This made Nero gasp for air as he was then forcefully picked up by the scruff of his neck and then forced through the door by the guards to start their fresh new hell.

A/N

Hello dear readers I hope you enjoy this (even though its my first) but I hope you stay for the ride and bear with it with me :D. Also little note I redid chp.1 so give that a reread it's the small details but still tried to fix it up as best as I can.

Thank you for your time and patience


	3. 3 The Escape

After a few months of being in his cell, Nero had seen hell. He would always test his captors with something that would earn him new injuries. New kids coming in every other few weeks, they cry. To scared to say anything, not one of them bothered to share their name as they were expecting not to make it out from their prison. Their unvoiced thoughts terrified each and every one of them. When they thought about what would happen to them and what had happen in their villages they would usually sit in solitude. Only to move away from the door when the guards came and dragged them out. At first it started out with some basic things like drawing blood and checking their mental and physical status, but then it devolved more and more by the weeks as they were forced to be subjugated to the hellish torture to see how much pain they could endure and see how much their mental state could hold out. Often they were forced through mazes like lab rats to test their reaction, speed, and memory if they moved to slow or not move at all they would shock them with a cattle prod and more.

On some nights one or two kids would be taken away for some time and then returned with the guards dragging them back after being forcefully injected with dust and other drugs. Those poor individuals would curl up into a ball inside their cells. While sobbing from the agonizing pain that kept them from being able to move knowing that even the slightest movement would be too much to bear. They begged and pleaded for an easy death, but it would never come. Others however, would be unlucky to survive those procedures and often times when someone was dragged away for these tests. They were never seen from again. Hazel and the guards would always come back the next day to check on the ones they dropped off the night before. If they lived they would drag the unlucky child back out and continue with the test. If not, she would shake her head in annoyance and complain "Great, another one dead. Dispose of it and return to your post."

Hazel would then just walk away as the guards grabbed the lifeless corpse and disappear. This had become a routine for the guards and the prisoners. On most accusations, Hazel would not show up and it just is the guards. These guards would often not carrying weapons, since they felt they didn't need them and then one day. The door opened and the unarmed guards came walking in, the children yet again scurried towards the back in fear as the two men walked up to the first cage. The staff made sure that each cage held it's max of fifteen or so people. "So she wanted the wolf faunus right Giel?" the lead guard asked as they walked in. "No, she wanted the "purple bear faunus", think you can handle that Noct?." Giel stated sarcastically "Hey shut up man it's hard to listen to her when you have a kid screaming in pain right next to you, ya know." Noct said annoyed "Awww getting soft are we?" Giel mocked while laughing but it was cut short as they saw the faunas in question lying curled up in a ball not moving away from the doors.

"Shit I think the brat is dead, director won't like this, and after all she specifically wanted him for a new test idea for today." Noct noted in a bored tone "Who the fuck cares? Just go inform her and I'll get rid of the body." Giel said as he started to dig for the keys from his pocket. "Fine be back soon." as Noct left closing the door, Giel grabbed the key for the cell he opened it up and walked up to Nero. As he stopped at Nero's body he glanced at the kids and noticed they were all glaring at him "What the hell you glaring at? You want to die or something?" Giel spat at them then he shook his head and went to reach down to grab Nero.

When the young wolf saw his chance, he pounced at the guard. Startling him and causing the guard to fall on his back as Nero wildly scratching for the eyes and biting his hands when they got to close. As soon as the man was on his back the other kids rushed in jumping on top to try and hold the man down. The eldest child ran up to Giel's head and kicked him as hard as he could, connecting his foot with the guards temple making him go slack. They all got off and looked at the guard frightened that he would get up, but he didn't he just stayed sprawled out and limp. "Ok check him for keys and start getting everyone out, today we are making our escape to get away from here!" Nero said.

As the others were being released Nero did a head count as best as he could coming up with fifty-one kids in total "Where are we going?" asked the one who had sat by himself for the time Nero had been there. "I don't know yet, but we need to get away. Then we can run to the nearest village we can find. Ok?" Nero said as he glanced at the door "Crymzen get the door, and then everyone run once the door is open."

As Crymzen got close to the door, it opened on its own. Blinding everyone for a split second as a figure had stopped in her tracks. "Hey what the hell!" she shouted out in surprise and she tried to block the door as best as she could. As Nero's eyes adjusted and saw what she was doing he yelled to everyone around him in a panicked voice "RUN!" And with that single word, chaos ensued. The kids charged knocking the woman down as they shoved past her or stepped on her running down the hall. Not long after the alarms sounded as they made their way down further. Running down the long corridor they passed multiple doors that they have been tested and experimented on. Behind a few of these doors they could hear the others who were still screaming in the rooms. Nero knew that they could not stop or risk getting captured, so they continued to run. Tears of the memories ran down their face; soon they saw an exit sign above a single brown door that had a small window that shined a light blue hue from what seemed to be the moon.

Upon seeing this, it inspired them to run harder at the sight of freedom just right in their grasp. As they burst outside they saw what appeared to be a warzone of guards fighting off a horde of grimm that was currently attacking the compound. Izabell looked back at the hallway to see Hazel and several guards coming around the corner. Scared of being caught and put through even worse experiments than before, She turned and shouted "Run, she's coming we need to go now!" Izabell ran into the front of the herd grabbing a few hands and lead them all towards the woods. In hopes they had heard her as she lead them away from the building. Nero didn't notice as he was focused on the scene before him remembering what he saw from his bedroom window when they had attacked his home. As they ran off into the woods, Nero was grabbed up by a large man shaking him out of his moment of terror. "Well now, look what we have here. Aren't you the one my wife mentioned to be the trouble maker? Well go ahead and try something if you want"

The man mocked as he held Nero by the back of his neck laughing. "Aurum look out!" the man known as Aurum dropped as a beowolf tackled him from out of nowhere straight down to the ground. This allowed Nero to get away, as he scrambled back up to his feet and took off. When he looked back he regretted it when he saw Hazel screaming as the beowolf tore into Aurum's chest and throat causing blood, skin, and some bone to fly around before the grimm was shot dead.

Out of fear, Nero turned around and continued to run into the woods. He didn't know where the others went but he didn't care as long as he got away from here. Nero kept running as far as his legs could take him until he finally collapsed due to exhaustion. He sat there breathing hard, with his legs feeling like they were on fire. It wasn't long before everything came rushing all at once as he tried to empty his stomach of what little food they did give them. After that he sat there and cried for everything that had happened with his time in the prison cell. The tests, the torture, and the death of the other kids, everything he had seen had just come out. After some time the wailing slowed down into hiccups and soon sniffles.

As he started to gain his senses he noticed everything around him was silent. No sounds were being made, not even the crickets dared to disturbed the unsettling night. Not long after Nero had his answer when he heard it. A low terrifying hissing could be heard from his left as he could hear something moving through the bushes. Slowly he turned towards the sound with fear showing more in his eyes. As he looked towards the bushes he saw a small group of glowing red eyes staring back at him and then it crawled out. It was a grimm. He had never seen this grimm before but one he could recognize. It stood about five feet tall with eight long, thick black legs with two mandibles near its mouth and, white bone armor on its head and upper back with eight red eyes looking directly at him.

The spider grimm then gave a terrifying screech and charged at Nero with horrifying speed. As he sat there too exhausted to move he stared at the grimm charging him knowing that it was too late. Nothing he could do would save himself from this monster. And after everything that had happened he could almost see this as an ending of a very long nightmare. So he closed his eyes and waited for the grimm to end him.

After a few seconds Nero realized the monster had yet to end his life. Slowly after counting to three in his head he opened his eyes wondering why the grimm stopped only to see a sword sticking out from the top of its head and a tall man standing in between Nero and the grimm. As the man pulled the sword out of the already fading grimm he turned around and looked at the child in front of him with piercing red eyes. The man was dressed in black slacks and a gray button up shirt with a red cape that showed a lot of scars that held its own story. The man then reached into his back pocket and took out a small metal container and took a swig of it "So, what's a little kid like yourself doing out here in the wood's?"


	4. 4 New Beginnings

So what's a little kid like yourself doing out here in the wood's?" The man questioned as he sheathed his sword and turned to give Nero his full attention, noting just how thin and frail he looked. Terrified of the possibility of being brought back to the facility and going through more hellish experiments, Nero did his best to grab any sticks and rocks to throw at the man in question while screaming "No I don't want to go back there!" As the small objects bounced harmlessly off, he did nothing as he stood there stunned by how the child before him acted. As the man continued to stand there unsure of how to go about this situation Nero tried to get up and run. However his legs immediately gave out on him, feeling like led, they were too heavy to work properly. The man raised his hands in a surrendering gesture trying to calm down Nero as he panicked. Taking a deep sigh he took another swig from his flask and pocketed the small container as he thought over his next words. "Hey easy there, I need you to relax kid."

"I won't force you to go anywhere, but I need you to try and slow down and tell me what are you talking about?" He asked as he kneeled down to look Nero in the eyes as he stopped moving and stared at the man. "Look, my name is Qrow I'm here to help." He then extended his hand out to Nero in a greeting manner "What's your name?" Nero stared at the hand in question but refused to take it still not trusting the stranger in front of him. "Why should I trust you?" Qrow was surprised to hear the malice in Nero's voice but didn't show it instead he just nodded. All the while scanning the area for any possible attack from more grimm.

"Well I don't really have anything to prove at the moment, but my friend over there is helping me look into some rumors." As he spoke he carefully watched the kid, who seemed to calm down by a small bit. "We have been trying to hunt down a group that's been running around and attacking villages and kidnapping the children, so we came looking to put a stop to them and I don't suppose you can tell me where I can find them?" Nero remained sitting and just starred at Qrow unsure if he should trust him or not. Finally he gave up and hung his head as he pointed into the woods from where he came from "That way, it was being attacked by the monsters when we ran away." Qrow looked over to the area that Nero had pointed to and then looked back over his shoulder and gave a nod to someone Nero had yet to see.

As Qrow looked back down to Nero he calmly stated "I have a friend over there that can help us out, and what do you mean when you said we? Are there others?" Nero sat there disappointed in himself "There was more of us but I was scared and didn't see them run off, we ended up getting separated after we got out and now I don't know where they are." He muttered with tears starting to break through. Qrow just sat there as he started to put everything together to decide his next move. Finally he got up and opened his scroll and started tapping away until a call came up and he started talking to the receiving end of the call "Hey Gorm keep an eye out for other kids on your way over I'll take this one back to the bullhead and then meet up with you ok." Over the scroll was an image of a man with red curly hair with green eyes and very pale skin.

"Aye Qrow, just don't keep me waiting or you're paying for the next pint." Gorm said in a young cheerful yet wired accent that Nero never heard of. "Yeah, yeah I won't be long and besides the next one was on you don't forget that." Qrow then ended the call and closed his scroll as he looked back down. "Alright let's get you out of here kid." He spoke as he checked his surrounding for the last time. Nero nodded and attempted to stand up. However he still didn't have the energy to move and fell back down. Qrow just sighed as he walked up to Nero and picked him up and started walking away from where Nero had come from "So you never did tell me what your name is kid?" Qrow stated as he walked through the dark woods. After a minute of silence Nero finally responded to the question "Nero." Qrow could hear just how exhausted Nero truly was now that he was calmed down and safe.

After a moment of silence Nero spoke up breaking the silence "Where are we going mister?" Qrow glanced over his shoulder and then back to the front of him as he talked "To a bullhead, after that to a town where you will be safe I know someone who can look after you." After some time they entered a clearing with a bullhead sitting in the center with the engine running and a shadowy figure walking up to them both. "Qrow are we leaving already and where the hell is the other one?" said a woman in a green body suit stopping in front of him. Then she noticed that he was carrying a kid "Sorry Jade but not yet and Gorm is scouting ahead, I'm just dropping the kid of for now." Qrow explained.

Qrow into the bullhead and placed Nero into a seat and started strapping him in "Try to get some rest you will be safe here alright." Once he was done Qrow climbed back out and went over to where the pilot was waiting outside and exchanged a few words after that, Qrow turned off into the woods where they had come from. As Nero sat there looking around having never been in a bullhead before, He took note of everything he could from inside. It was a small compartment with seats lined up away from the side door so Nero could look outside. Too his right, was another doorframe which led to the front where the pilot would sit. After some time of just sitting there Nero soon found himself deep in slumber due to the events that had transpired throughout the day.

"Hey kid wake up." A voice said as it broke through the darkness. Nero started to wake up and look around confused as to where they were. "Where are we?" Nero asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and started to unbuckle himself as the bullhead landed. Glancing around he saw Qrow standing up by the open side door looking out and another man who looked like the one from the scroll was sitting in the corner with his head leaning against the wall. "A small town called Val'helm just outside of Vale, you'll be safe here." He responded as he waited for the bullhead to land. Once the bullhead touched down Qrow informed the pilot he would be right back and he hopped out as Nero followed. They made their way through the quiet streets as Nero was in awe taking in the sight of the different buildings, cobble stone roads and the walls that surrounded the town.

As they walked they turned down a road that led them toward the houses. Qrow walked into the first yard on the street with Nero close behind him looking at the dark house, he started getting nervous thinking the worst of things like this was all a test to perform some more test and he was ready to turn and run at the first sign of trouble. As they reached the door to the two story house Nero looked into the only window on the front of the house. He could see a living room with a couch and a small little table that was made of glass sitting in the center of the room with a TV next to the window. Nero was so focused that as soon as he heard the man knock he jumped and looked to Qrow who just waited for the door to open, after a few seconds Nero started hearing movement coming from upstairs of the house. After some time of waiting outside the door soon opened up to a young thin woman who stood shorter than Qrow by a few inches and had blue eyes with long light red hair and tan skin.

The moment the door opened Nero quickly darted behind Qrow "Oh hey Qrow, what brings you here tonight." she questioned with confusion and shock evident in her voice. "Hey there Rosa, sorry to wake you up at this time but I need a favor from you." She immediately shot Qrow with a deadpanned look and sighed "Qrow I'm not going to get drunk and help you raise hell tonight. I'm busy tomorrow helping with stalls in the morning" Qrow just chuckled and raised his hands in mock surrender as he spoke "No, as fun as it would be it's not what I wanted to ask for." And with that he stepped to the side to reveal Nero who was hiding behind his leg. Rosa just looked down at him in confusion and concern "Found him during my mission, lost and alone in the woods, would have been dead to if I didn't step in."

Rosa looked up to Qrow with concern in her eyes "What about his family?" Qrow just shook his head as he patted Nero's head "My guess is that whoever took him killed his family, I was supposed to be looking into a report about villages being attacked, and the only thing remaining was the bodies but no kids." Rosa looked down at Nero who was looking away as he fought away the tears "Poor thing, what's your name?" Rosa asked as she rushed toward Nero and wrapped him in a hug. After a minute of silence Qrow answered for him "His name is Nero." He then put his hand in his back pocket and pulled out a flask and offered some to Rosa who shook her head "So you need someone to look after him?" she asked as she held onto Nero while he silently cried into her shoulder.

"Yeah, I would have asked Tai but he's been busy lately so I figured you might be able to help out." Rosa sat there taking a moment to think things over before saying "I will have to talk to Gris, but he shouldn't have a problem with it. Besides this might be a chance for us to raise a child together." Qrow just nodded and started to walk away "Well I'll see you around, I need to report back to Oz soon or else he might have a heart attack again." And with that Qrow made his way back down the road toward the bullhead that he used to get in town with. Rosa stood up and gently took Nero's hand as she started guiding him into the house "Ok take care and have a safe travel Qrow." She said as she walked in and closed the door "Ok let's get you a place to sleep and tomorrow we'll get you some food and clothes ok?"

She said as she was setting up the couch for Nero to sleep on. As Nero climbed onto the couch he nodded and said softly "Thank you ma'am." as Rosa pulled the blanket up to his neck she smiled as she spoke "Please call me Rosa, and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." She got up and walked back upstairs while mentally squealing like a happy kid "Get plenty of rest Nero we have a fun filled day ahead of us tomorrow." Nero just nodded and turned towards the back of the couch as he fell asleep feeling safe for the first time in a while.

Author's note

Hey guys thanks for reading and being patient with me I'll keep on trying to post more as I go along.


	5. Fresh start

Five years had passed by after Qrow had opened the door to a new future for Nero. After everything that happened at Zazel village he learned how dark and gruesome the world around him truly was, and how the world he lived in before was all just an illusion. The mysterious group had taken the things he cared about away from him and away from many others as well. However, thanks to his new foster family Rosa and her husband Gris, Nero was once again able to live a normal life. But with everything that happened and all that he had learned made him rethink his plans for the future. He knew they were out there somewhere in Remnant and that they had to be stopped. As he grew older he started to train to become stronger and faster, so when he was ready he could take them down.

At the age of twelve Nero caught wind of a huntress who had come passing through town. Upon hearing that he immediately thought of the woman who had visited his old village and helped them out when the grimm attacked. He decided that if he needed to get anywhere in life, it had to start with her, so he went out and looked for her.

After searching around town and asking the people around, he had finally found where she was at and immediately made haste for the Inn. Upon arriving to the Inn he soon discovered it was not just an Inn but also a three story tavern, made of hardened stone that was placed in the corners and seem to make a frame for the building and wood for the walls with two dark tinted windows keeping people from looking in.

Walking up he could hear people inside talking, as well as a song playing from inside. Although he didn't recognize the song, the melody playing seemed to soothe his nerves. He also noticed a wooden sign hanging from above the double wooden doors, which held a name and an image of two mugs crossing each other into an x engraved into it. "Kvasir's Tavern" Nero read out loud as he walked up to the door, but before he could walk in a large hand grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him back.

"I think you're a little too young to be buying a drink or a room here kid." As the man pulled Nero back he stepped in front of him crossing his arms and looked down with a questioning look "Wait a sec don't I know you from somewhere?"

Nero tilted his head as he looked at the man trying to remember if he had met him but nothing came up so he shook his head "No sir, I never me-"

The man snapped his fingers cutting off Nero's sentence as a smile formed on the man's face "Ah yeah that's right you're Rosa's pint, I've seen you running around town a few times." But just as the smile appeared it quickly disappeared as he stared Nero down "So why are you here anyway?"

Nero thought about saying nothing and leaving but quickly pushed that thought out of his head as he knew he needed to get inside so he let up and told the man "I was looking for a huntress and people say she's here."

After a few seconds the man nodded and opened the door looking inside and then he looked back at Nero "Looks like you're in luck she's over in the corner. I don't let kids in here on their own but I can make an exception just this once." He said as he walked in and held the door open for Nero to come inside.

As Nero walked in his nose was hit with the stench of alcohol and smoke from cigars. Walking in he could see on the right side a single set of stairs going up to the second floor and a bar on the far side of the building with bottles stacked on racks along the wall and circular tables and chairs all scattered about in the nearly empty room except for several men sitting at the bar and a woman sitting off by the wall alone. On the left side of the building sat three pool tables and a single dartboard.

"Hey Lilith you got a visitor." Said the man as he walked past Nero heading towards the bar taking his place behind it to serve drinks to the few in front of him. Nero for his part steeled his nerves and made his way forward to the huntress before him.

Lilith was sitting at an empty table with her short brown-red leather jacket resting on the chair with the left sleeve ripped off and the right was cuffed up, her maroon tank top that also revealed her midriff, and dark red jeans with metal armor running down both legs and along her left arm with an empty circular slot and two metal frames that sat tucked in near the empty slot. A black sword was sheathed leaning against the table with what appeared to be a slot for an assault rifle mag would fit.

As he got closer he could feel anger emanating from her as he stopped just short of the table. He could see that she was reading what looked like newspapers and documents as well as looking down at a map of the area.

"What kid." The huntress snapped as she continued to read the page in her hand.

"I was hoping you could tell me about being a Hunter?" Nero said as his confidence started to falter.

As he finished Lilith stopped and shot an irritated look at him. "Look kid I'm busy, and by the looks of it your too young to be a hunter, so run off and play somewhere else!" She snapped as she went back to her work.

Just as Nero was about to leave he saw the headline on the back of the paper in Lilith's hand "Bandit's strike again!!!" with an image of a burned down village and in bold print read "Another village has been claimed yet again with no leads on the missing children that lived here however the bandit's didn't hesitate to leave the bodies of the people that were killed in the street."

"What now." Lilith said as she realized that Nero didn't leave.

"I know what happened to them." Nero almost whispered causing her to look up at him before turning to look at the back.

"What do you know about this?" She said as she finally gave Nero her full attention.

Nero began by telling her about his village and what had happened to it as well as the people who performed the experiments on the others and the grimm that had destroyed the facility.

"So what do you hope to achieve if you become a hunter kid?"

After a moment of silence while Nero questioned his own path and what he wanted to do and needed to do.

"Ok skip this you can find that out on your own time kid, you want answers on how to become a hunter then I'll tell you."


End file.
